Side Effects
by Paranoidgirl
Summary: Nightmares of Kaidan are haunting Richard Sonnac. Are they just dreams or is something more... Filthy causing them?


A/N: A little ditty I was inspired to write after reading Richard Sonnac's Twitter Feed. His adress is RichardSonnac, and the particular string of messages I used for this story start at the 29th of April of 2014 and end at the 30th of May that same year with a video. Tough I suggest you read the entire thing, it's great character building and just plain fun.

Anyway, his nightmares inspired me to write this little story. The timeline might be a little skewed, but the general gist is still there. Reviews are welcome.

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_Darkness…. Dripping down the walls, climbing up the buildings…. Festering, infecting all in it's wake. He looked at the moon, hoping it would be a solace from this horrible sight… but no…. it was wrong…. the moon was wrong… everything around him was wrong…._

_The darkness was closing in. Creeping closer. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide as it started to envelop him..._

Eyes snapping open, Richard Sonnac woke up in his London home. Groaning, he sat up and held his head, noticing just how sweaty it was.

"Same dream again…" He muttered to himself. This had been going on for a few weeks now, and it started to become tiring. Sighing, Sonnac got out of bed and walked to the bedroom window, opening the curtains. He looked outside, up at the moon. Wanting to make sure it looked normal. At least from his vantage point.

"Richard?" Came somewhat sleepily from his side, turning, he saw Anita standing next to him. Frazzled and a little bit scared. "Are you… alright?"  
"I'm fine. Just another dream about Kaidan. That's all." Sonnac said, shaking his head to clear it.

"They've been going for almost a month, are you sure you don't want to see a Doctor?" She asked.

"I highly doubt that the average doctor would be equipped for something like this."

"Can't the Templars help?" Anita insisted. "You said there was trouble brewing in Tokyo. And now these dreams… they might be connected."

"I can't just knock on their door in the middle of the night because I had a bad dream." Sonnac said. "They have more pressing matters…" He sighed frustrated. "For all I know this might be something completely inconspicuous." He held his head. "For all I know it might have been that Pollen-Ease medicine I've been taking."

"Well, you HAVE proven sensitive to certain chemicals. Remember that spray that gave you nosebleeds?" Anita said. "And from the same company, too. Plethron."

"That might be the issue… Hold on, I'm checking right now." With that he rushed off to the cupboard in the bathroom, opening it.

"Now where did I leave the bloody…." Sonnac muttered, rummaging through the cupboard. "Got it." With that he opened the leaflet that came with his medicine and started to read the small print as he made his way to the kitchen. "'Do not ingest when sensitive to… That doesn't apply…. Hold on…. Side Effects include: vivid dreams'" He read. "Vivid dreams indeed."

"Told you you should've gone with the homeopathic one." Anita said, tone a bit more light-hearted as she handed over a steaming mug. "So you won't look dead on your feet tomorrow."

"One of your family's recipes?" Sonnac asked, taking a gulp of a rather bitter liquid.

"Guaranteed Nightmare Free." She joked, as the two shared a laugh despite the somewhat heavy situation.

The next morning, Richard Sonnac couldn't concentrate. The dreams were taking their toll on his work. Not to mention he found himself daydreaming, something he hadn't done since he was a teenager. They were of retribution. Of retribution to whoever made the medication that after some digging, indeed seemed to be the cause of his nightmares. Petty, yes, but immensely satisfying.

Still, he felt immensely uneasy. What was the meaning of these dreams? Were they just that? Dreams? Or was there something more fowl, more Filthy about them? This too distracted him from his work, as he growled frustratingly. He didn't like being in the dark.

His phone rang and he opened it. A text message from Anita. A Templar of her own and very well aware of Richard's duties, she usually didn't text during work hours.

Unless something was wrong. Really wrong. With that weighing heavily on his already burdened mind, Richard Sonnac opened the message. It was short, but worrisome.

_Just found this. You're not going to believe it… It's about Tokyo..._

The text said, and a link was included.

"Please don't let this be what I think it is…." Sonnac whispered to himself, begged some unknown force, as he hesitantly, almost fearfully, clicked the link.


End file.
